The AGM for the financial year 2024 ending 31/12/24 will be held in the Methodist Church Hall at 7pm Wednesday 15th October 2025 where light refreshments will be served.

The annual report and accounts can be found here

AGM 2025 – Wednesday 15^th October 2025 at the MURC Hall, Bellingham

As last year, sending out AGM papers would cost the Heritage Centre over £600 in printing, envelopes, and postage. This expense significantly impacts our finances. To reduce costs, we are sending the AGM notice by email again this year and posting the associated information on our website. While we have email addresses for many of you now, some members have not yet provided an email address on their membership forms. For those members, we are sending the AGM notice by post but not the associated papers, as this further increases postage and printing costs. These papers are available on the website.

If you receive this letter and do not have access to the website to view the associated papers but wish to do so before the AGM, please contact me at 01434 344383 or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. I will arrange for the papers to be posted to you.

If we do not have your email address and you have one, please provide us with a valid email address using the same contact details. This will save time and considerable expense in the future. Thank you.

Papers for the AGM are available on the website and include:

1.    Notice of AGM;

2.    Draft minutes of the 2024 AGM;

3.    Accounts including the Trustees’ report; You can read the Trustees report separately from the annual accounts here if you wish.

4.    List of candidates for election (see Proxy voting form);

5.    Proxy voting form);

if you cannot attend the AGM in person and wish to appoint the Chairman or another proxy to vote on your behalf.

Please come along and support the AGM and put any questions you may have to the Chairman and Committee Members.

The current Chairman, Steve Gibbon, will answer any questions on the annual report for 2024. He will also talk about what is currently happening and what is planned at the Centre.

Voting: If you do not wish to attend in person, under our Constitution you may use the enclosed form to either give your proxy vote to the Chairman or other person present at the meeting or provide a postal vote. These must arrive by Tuesday 14^th October 2025.

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the AGM. There will be an opportunity to hear about our achievements over the past year, our plans for the future, and to ask questions to the Trustees and Committee.

LATEST NEWSLETTER

Like the AGM papers the newsletter costs a considerable amount of money to print and post. Each newsletter would cost in the region of £600 depending on the amount of content - which can affect both postage and printing costs. Three newsletters a year (the target) would therefore cost approaching £2,000. As most members now have emails it is time to move the newsletter into the digital age. This will make it much easier to distribute, reduce costs and should allow us more time to focus on content rather than printing, stuffing envelopes and applying stamps.

There has obviously been a considerable gap since the last newsletter last year and I apologise for that, the result of pressures of time and workload on a small committee. We are also addressing this by going digital.

The latest newsletter for September 2025 is therefore available online on the website here or simply search for September 2025.

At this point in time, it is not locked behind your login but will be in the future. I have done this to ease the transition and give everyone advanced notice. If you have provided us with an email, you will have received a login for the website which you should have activated. Contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have any problems. Activating your login now, if you have not already done so, will save effort and problems next year. With a digital approach we will also be able to send out tailored information for volunteers and other groups as well as the newsletter, and thus keep you all better informed.

Please note that we will no longer be sending out paper copies of any newsletters and a membership email is required to access all future newsletters. One printed copy will be held behind reception for access by local volunteers without an email.

FRIENDS MEMBERSHIP

As a Friend and/or volunteer of the Heritage Centre may I thank you for your continued support which, for a volunteer led centre, is invaluable to us.

If you have not already subscribed, please note that Friends renewals are due. If you pay by Standing Order you need do nothing as this will renew automatically. If you do not wish to continue as a Friend please let us know as this saves us postage and other costs. Many thanks to those that have already renewed. If you wish to pay by Bank Transfer our details are:

The Heritage Group Bellingham, Sort Code: 20 40 09, Account Number: 43406601

Please reference the payment as Friends if possible.

Any lapsed memberships will be discontinued in 2026 if you do not contact us.

Many thanks

Steve Gibbon

Chairman of Trustees

.